Mechanism for making tubes from metallic ingots



{No Modl.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

R. G. STIEPEL;

MEG HANISM FOR MAKING TUBES FROM METALLIC INGOTS. 1

No. 551,340. Patented Dec. 10,1895.

v F531. 1 l H- CZ g c WITNESSES: l/WENTOR m Ralph C Szz'gl ATTORNEY.

(N0 Mbdel.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

R. G. STIEFEL. MEGHANISM FOR MAKING TUB-ES FROM METALLIC INGOTS. No. 551,340. Patented Dec. 10, 1895.

Fig.5.

1N VEN TOR,

Ralph L? Size 62.

ATTORNEY.

WITNESSES.-

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RALPH CHARLES STIEFEL, OF ELLYOOD, PENNSYLVANIA.

MECHANISM FOR MAKING TUBES FRoMMETA Luc-moo'rs.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 551,340, dated. December 10, 1895. Application filed October 10, 1895. Serial No. 585,237 (No model.)

T at whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, RALPH CHARLES STIE- FEL, a citizen of the Republic of Switzerland, residing at Ellwood City, Lawrence county, Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mechanism for Mak ing Tubes from Metallic Ingots or Blanks in a Heated State, of which the following is a specification, that will enable those skilled in the art to which myinvention pertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in mechanism for making tubes from metallic ingots or blanks. Its object is to-pierce metallic blanks or billets in a heated state without subjecting them to torsional strain or materially disturbing the longitudinal arrangement of the fibers of the metal, and

. the mechanism for accomplishing this object consists of a pair of specially constructed and arranged parallel disks and a piercing? mandrel by means of which the heated blanks or billets may be drawn and pierced. at one operation. In this operation a blank is passed between the adjacent faces of thetwo parallel disks whichimpart to it a rotary motion, and at the same time a longitudinal motion which forces it against a conical piercing mandrel lying in the path of the axis of the blank, the arrangement of the working sur facesof these disks being such that a prac tically-uniform speed of rotation is imparted to each and everyportion of the blank lying between and being acted upon by them, thus producing a drawing action upon the blank that does not materially alter the longitudinal arrangement or relation of the fibers in the blank or in the final product thereof during any changes wroughtin its diameter. The grip of the disks on the blank give it sumcient power in its forward and rotary move ments to force it onto and over the mandrel which thus pierces its center. The mandrel may be fixed or it may be rotated at a speed diiferent from the speed of the blank in order to impartto it a more or less energetic boring efiect in penetratinginto the blank.

The accompanying drawings show approximately the shapes and relative positions of the disks and mandrel of the mechanism which I employ in the practice of my invention, no attempt being made, however, to represent the framework or housings, the gearin g for imparting motion to the parts or other portions ofa fully organized machine; such general features forming no part of the in- -ven tion herein claimed, and their application being well understood by those familiar with the art to which my invention pertains. I do not mean, however, to confine myself to the exact proportions and shapes shown, as

these may be varied to a considerable extent to suit differing conditions, without departing from the spirit of my invention as set forth in the claims at the end of this specification.

Figure 1 is a plan view partially in section.

Fig. 3 shows a modification of the shapes and arrangements of the disks. Fig. i represents still another modification of the disks in which their diverging surfaces are arranged to act upon that part of the blank which is being opened and enlarged by the conical part of the mandrel lying between them.

The disks A B lie in parallel planes and are mounted on the ends of shafts a b, the axial lines of which are also parallel and lie in the same horizontal plane. These shafts may be mounted in any suitable housings and motion is imparted to them by any suitable gearin g or driving mechanism. The working portion of the face of each disk is near its periphery, and as the shafts are not in the same axial line the right-hand side of one disk is opposed to the left-hand side of the other. The disks revolve in the same direction as indicated by the arrows thereon, so that a blank or billet passed between them in contact with their opposing surfaces has imparted to it a rotary movement and, if the blank is passed between the disks either slightly above or below the plane of their axes, it has imparted to it a longitudinal movement also.

In Fig. l the working faces of the disks are formed by a part of the plane surface 0 of the disk A, and a partof the outer beveled surface of the disk B, the outer diameter of the surface a being the same as the inner diameter of the beveled surface 0. The edges formed by these two surface diameters lie opposite to each other at the pass for the blanks, so that the pass is narrowest at this point, as indicated at the line X X. The axial line of the pass I prefer to locate below the centers of the rolls, as shown in Fig. 2, and guideblocks G of suitable construction are employed to hold the blanks in proper position. The blank enters the pass at its widest point near the line Y Y, where it is gripped by the rolls, revolved and gradually forced forward .pass at X X, upon the point of the conical mandrel M, and from thence over the remainder of the mandrel, but out of the grip of the disks.

The disposition and shape of the disks are such thattheir action upon the blank elongates or draws it out without imparting any spiral twist to the fiber, resulting in a finished pierced blank, the fibers of which are parallel to each other and substantially straight or without twist, and this feature constitutes the main aim and object of my invention. This result is accomplished by imparting to the blank a substantially uniform speed of rotation throughout all those portions of it in the grip of the working surfaces of the disks. At the point X X, where the pass is most contracted, and the grip of the disks on the blank the greatest, the radii w x of the two disks is the same and consequently the speed of rotation imparted to the blank at this point by both disks is the same. At the line Y Y in the pass, while the radius y of one disk is smaller than the common radii a: as of both disks, the opposing radius y of the other disk is proportionately greater than the common radii a: 0;, so that the mean effective rotative action imparted to the blank by the two disks at the line Y Y is the same as that imparted to it at the line X X; or, to express it in another way, the circumferential speed of the disk A is slower at its radius y than at its radius ac, and consequently its rotative action on the blank is slower at Y than it is at X, but the circumferential speed of the other disk'B at its opposing radius y is as much greater than at x as y is slower than as, so that the mean effective rotative action upon the blank of the smaller and larger radii y y of the two disks respectively is the same as that of the common radii 0a 00. Consequently that portion of the blank lying within the the grip ofthe disks at the line Y Y is rotated at substantially the same speed as that portion at the line X X. As this condition prevails in every point in the grip of the disks between the lines X X and Y Y, a larger radius and greater circumferential speed of one disk being opposed by a smaller radius and slower circumferential speed of the other, there is practically no twisting of the blank within the grip of the disks by reason of one portion of the blank being rotated faster than another portion. There might, if there were no slippage, be a slight difierence of speed of rotation of portions of the blank within the grip of the rolls, due to the fact that the diameter of the blank is slightly smaller at X X than it is at YY, but owing to the slippag" this does not occur, and the blanks, who; they leave the pass between the disks, have their fibers substantially straight and parallel throughout. This reduction of the diameter of the blank between the lines Y Y and X X is not intended, particularly for its effect in compacting, working or drawing out of the metal, but is the result or consequence of the contraction in the width of the pass necessary to give the disks sufficient grip or hold upon the blank to force it forward upon and overcome the resistance of the piercing-mandrel.

For such purposesas merely straightening, finishing, and b urnishing bars or tubes, either cold or at a low temperature, there is no resistance to the endwise movement of the blank, and the sides of the pass maybe parallel, or substantially parallel, only a slight grip of the disks on the blank being necessary to urge it endwise through the pass, and at the same time rotate it between the opposing moving surfaces of the disk. But where, as in thepractice of my invention, it isnecessary to impart 'to a soft or plastic mass of metal endwise movement with sufficient force to overcome the resistance of a piercingmandrel,it is necessary to so dispose the sides of the pass that they shall have a firm and, through a certain length of the blank, a continuing pressure or grip upon it. This I effect by the contraction of the width of the pass from its entrance at the line Y Y to the point X X, the amount of such contraction and the length of the converging surfaces varying with circumstances and conditions, such as the ductility of the metal, the resistance of the piercing-mandrel, &c.

The drawings are more or less diagrammaticin character, and it is not intended that they shall represent the exact proportions and relations of the disks and their Working surfaces, to be followed under all circum stances; for these proportions may vary widely with the conditions of 'work to be performed.

The :outer beveled surface cl of the disk A and the inner beveled surface d of the disk B are formed at such divergent angles as not to be brought into contact with or operate upon the tubularstructure of the blank, being produced by the penetration of the mandrel. The angles of these divergent surfaces depend upon the formof the mandrel and the amount of expansion it effects in the blank. \Vith a small mandrel producing but little expansion of the blank the 'surfacesmight be less divergent than they are shown, to 'anextent that will dispense entirely with the inner beveled surface d, of the disk B, the plane l hi mas-ash,

surface of which would be sufiiciently divergent from the axis of the blank as not to come into contact therewith.

Fig. 3 is a modification of my disks showing the diverging surfaces cl and d omitted.

Fig. 4 shows another modification of the disks in which the diverging surfaces of the disks at the exit side of the pass are formed at such angles as to produce between them and the portion of the blank embracing the conical mandrel, contact, which may be such a as to exert compacting pressure or merely a rolling and polishing efiect on the outer surface of the blank.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and useful, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of two parallel disks revolving in the same direction and overlapping each other, one of said disks being bevi eled at its outer edge which beveled surface is opposed to a portion of the plane surface of the other disk; the outer diameter of this plane surface and the inner diameter of the beveled surface opposed to it being substantially the same and the edges formed by both diameters intersecting the same transverse plane through the pass between the disks; the angles of the opposing surfaces converging to this plane which is at the narrowest part of the pass, with a conical mandrel lying in the axis of the pass at its exit side, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of two parallel disks revolving in the same direction, beveled at the edges of their adjacent faces and overlapping each other so that the beveled portion of one disk lies opposite a flat portion of the other disk, the edges formed by the smaller diameters of the beveled portions of the disks intersecting the same transverse plane through the pass between the disks whereby the sides of the pass first converge to this plane and then diverge beyond it, with a piercing mandrel located between the diverging sides of the pass and exactly in axial line of the pass, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in the presence of two witnesses, at Ellwood City, Pennsylvania, September 26, 1895.

RALPH CHARLES STIEFEL.

Witnesses SAML. A. ROELOFS, J. O. LEOHNER. 

